


Tigereans and Weres: The Beginning

by jecooksubether



Series: Tigereans and Weres [1]
Category: Furry (Fandom), Original Work
Genre: Aliens, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Alternate Universe - Werecreatures, F/M, Origin Story, Original Fiction, POV First Person, Shapeshifting, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:00:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26351560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jecooksubether/pseuds/jecooksubether
Summary: Every Saga has a beginning. This is a slice of life written from the POV of an IT admin after an aliens visit earth and take an interest in said IT admin.rating: PG13 / Teen (course language, adult situations)
Series: Tigereans and Weres [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1914835





	Tigereans and Weres: The Beginning

The Beginning

**January 10** ** th ** **, 2010 – Tennessee, United States, Earth**

The small comm unit held a place of honor in the middle of the display case that contained the relics of the parents of the Nexus. The centuries had been surprisingly kind to it, although the power unit it contained had been supplanted over time by the small hand generator that also sat in the case, and currently had a small power cable connecting it to a USB smartphone charger. The Trinity had made it a ritual every decade or so to power it up and see if there were any signals, and after nearly 800 years they had almost given up. When it turned itself on and started chiming frantically, there was a lot of commotion.

**February 8 th, 2010 – Scottsdale, Arizona, United States, Earth**

We had seen some of the reports on the various science shows that there was some off movement in space around the asteroid belts surrounding our solar system two or three months ago, but almost no one paid attention until their ship appeared, made orbit, and turned on the PA system. Every single device that could receive an audio signal suddenly came alive, and a strangely accented voice spoke, first in English, then in every major language spoken on the planet.

"On behalf of the Emperor of the Tigerean Trade Empire, We bid greetings to the peoples of this planet. We are explorers and interstellar merchants, and we wish to engage in peaceful dialog to establish a partnership between your people and ours. We wish to meet with representatives of the ruling parties on neutral territory to establish this relationship. Please broadcast your reply to us within the next 48 hours using an electromagnetic signal tuned to nine billion cycles aimed at your moon."

The panic that ensued before their next broadcast twenty hours later confirming the time and location of the meeting as February 12th at 8:00 AM local time on Midway Island was interesting, for certain. Fortunately, all the world leaders managed to mostly calm things down by the end of the week. Things returned to normal for the weekend, and then it went to hell the next week as some jackass launched an ex-soviet ICBM at the 1500-meter long tradeship, which was easily visible in the sky.

The second panic was short-lived as the PA came on again, and said simply 'We apologize for the actions you have forced us to take.' The missile just _vanished_ as a bright beam of light from the tradeship intersected it. Any thoughts of the rogue group that had lobbed it launching a second volley went out the window when several more beams of light connected the tradeship to the missile's origin point. The vibrations from the impact were felt all over the world, as if it had been hit with a monstrous hammer.

The following 24 hours were accompanied by several riots world-wide, at least three attempted coups in other ex-soviet nations, and a final declaration that the terrorists had been brought to justice. The final demonstrated proof was a picture taken from the trade ship two days after the incident by that revealed a mile-wide crater filled with molten and re-solidified ground, with bits of buildings, vehicles, and bodies in it. Things returned to normal shortly after that, and in the next months humanity got used to having a small black sliver in the sky.

**May 11th**

Work, at least, had remained normal, until the staff in all three offices were invited to a set of short meetings in the largest rooms at each site. The Ambassador for the North American region was touring the US and meeting with what appeared to be random businesses, and ours had been chosen. Several of us figured it was the tribal angle in addition to the nature of our business. Because we were the only casino that had been chosen, the entire company felt honored.

The past few weeks had also been strange for me. Several times during the week, I felt like I had been tapped or poked in the gut by some unseen hand. The week leading up to the meeting was worse with the effect occurring several times a day. I almost called in sick the day of the meeting, but that morning I felt completely normal. The Tigereans had published a web site that had a good deal of information on the race, customs, etc. My informal monitoring of the company’s web filter appliance showed that visits to their site increased by a factor of five when we were selected for this meeting, and traffic to our site had easily quadrupled. The meeting itself was a short question and answer session to introduce the Ambassador and her staff to the customs and styles of humanity. As all the questions had to be submitted in writing, I didn't bother submitting any questions. I didn’t have anything special that I felt warranted that much attention, but I was curious to see what they looked like in person. While the pictures they published were good enough, there was something that I can only pick up in person that I wanted to experience.

A few minutes before the meeting, I slipped in and grabbed a seat in the far back of the room, largely to be unobtrusive, officially ‘in the event some emergency occurred’, but mostly because I wanted to observe how this slice of humanity interacted with these five visitors from another planet. I figured the meeting would probably be a waste of my time in the large scheme of things, but I did want to at least see the ambassador and her staff in person and satisfy my curiosity. The meeting opened as our company's marketing director gave a brief introduction, and we politely clapped as the ambassador entered the room with her honor guard.

The Ambassador was dressed in a long grey cloak that was covered in ornate embroidery, which appeared to be some form of writing. The lettering shimmered with a faint glow as she walked in, and as she turned to face the assembled group, one could see glimpses of what appeared to be some form of ceremonial battledress underneath the robe. Her honor guard, all 8 foot tall walls of muscled fur, openly wore a glittering silver colored battledress. It was not decoration, though- there were the odd scrap and divot that indicated the armor was as functional as it was polished. I spotted a deep dimple on one’s armor that had to have come from a bullet on the largest of the four. The group reached the middle front of the room, and as the honor guard took up their positions, the ambassador spoke in English with a relatively heavy accent that I could not quite place.

“I apologize for my poor language in advance. I have been taking lessons during my tour, and I feel I am getting better. This meeting is for you to ask questions about my people that the web site we had published did not answer. The first question is...”

As I listened to the presentation, I sipped idly from the water bottle I brought in. Just after I capped it, I nearly dropped it as the poking sensation occurred, much more forcefully than any other time. It felt like someone had hit me in the gut with a tennis ball. I managed to contain myself and get a better grip on the bottle, but my vision was still blurred. As she finished the question, I managed to slip outside. I felt like I was going to throw up, but I managed to keep my lunch down. As I leaned against the hallway and willed my vision to return to normal, the door on the far side opened. Two of the honor guards stepped outside and began walking toward me. I stood, alternately in awe and in terror of these two beings, when they stopped in front of me. The bulkier of the two, with the dimpled battledress, addressed me.

“Did you feel strange sensation just now?” His English was passable, and with more than a hint of a Russian accent. I stammered a bit, but managed to eek out a quiet “Yes sir.”

The two looked at each other, and their ears twitched a bit. The second one stated “You are who mistress is looking for- her visit here was to find you. Come with us.”

My eyes went wide at this, and he added, “I promise you on my honor- no harm will befall you. Please; come with us.”

I was led to one of the smaller training rooms that had been press-ganged into a green room. There was an empty tray that appeared to have had some food on it, several of the bottles of water with my company’s logo on the label, and a couch brought in from somewhere. As I took a seat, the second one left the room to return to the meeting. This left me with the larger of the two. He looked me over, and his ears twitched. “Human, you are scared, yes? Also, you have questions for me, no? Please, relax; let us talk.”

I sat down and started simply with my name and what I did for the casino in the simplest of terms. He told me his name was Ch’Mrr of the Sn’rrth clan. He then told me that he was in charge of security for the entire trade delegation. “In your language, my clan’s name means ‘steel claw’. We are honored to be the clan selected to contact your world.”

I asked him where he got the marks on his armor. “This is our people's traditional battledress on home world. Most of the marks you see were caused by combat to settle disputes of honor or to prove combat prowess. Some marks are recent.”

I nodded. “Such as the dimple on the upper left hand side?” I indicated the location on my body.

The great tiger nodded gravely as he leaned forward and sighed. “Some meetings were… less than successful. This is one meeting where I have been able to relax slightly. Your company has strict policy regarding weapons- even we had to leave own ceremonial weapons in shuttle.”

I nodded sagely; that morning I made a few changes to some of the emergency equipment I normally carried in the event tribal PD wanted to search everyone’s cars. He continued, “But we are not entirely unarmed, as are you- I know about multi-tool in your pocket.”

His claws flexed out and I slowly and deliberately drew the tool from its pocket and opened the file. At his look, I help up my left hand with the nails facing him. “There is a very small chip on one of my nails that I think I ought to smooth out before meeting the ambassador.”

He looked on with something resembling amusement while I corrected the small aberration. At least, I _think_ it was amusement- His ears were still twitching in a rather peculiar manner. Stowing the file and placing the tool back in my pocket, I looked back at him. He made this odd _chuff_ sort of sound and remarked, “Humans seem to have the same vanity with their small nails that we do with our claws.” His face turned serious, however. “It can also be taken that filing nails in the presence of what one may consider enemy can be profound insult.”

My eyes widened a bit. “No insult was intended, sir. I have no wish to be anyone’s enemy, least of all you or your race. If anything, I wish to represent my world in as best a manner as possible.”

We had both involuntarily stood up at this last bit. He looked at me, made the same _chuff_ sound again and held out his paw-like hand.

“Good, then let us be friends. I believe you humans shake hands to seal deals such as these.” I reached out and took his wrist to shake, and he _chuffed_ again. “Even better- here is someone who knows how to shake with clawed individuals properly and read web sites!”

At this moment, the Ambassador and the three other members of her honor guard walked in, and closed the door behind them. She looked at Ch’Mrr, and he nodded slightly. Turning back to me, she started right in.

“I assume that Ch’Mrr has told you why you are here?” I bowed and replied.

“Yes, Ambassador, although I was not given the reason why you were looking for me.” The Ambassador and the guards all took seats, and I took this as my cue to sit back down myself.

“I cannot state the reason here. I need to have a more private discussion with you, and not in this place. Is there some other place where we can talk privately later in the day or evening?” I thought for a moment or two, but could not come to any better choice. I also found it slightly odd that her language skills had improved immensely in the 20 minutes that had elapsed, but I kept that to myself.

“Well, there is my home, if that would suit you and your group. It is not a fancy place, but I can assure you that it is private. I know of no other place that I could get access on such short notice, unfortunately.” She appeared to ponder for a moment, than reached into her cloak and pulled out a small rectangular device with three small buttons set into the center of one side.

“Your home will suffice. We will not need directions. Take this device, and when you are ready for us, press the center button. The other buttons will not do anything. This will signal us with your location.”

I accepted the device, and everyone stood. “And now, your representative has told us that he wishes to give us a tour of your main properties. Thank you for allowing us to take some of your valuable time.”

I bowed deeply. “Ambassador, I am honored to have met you, and I look forward to our discussion tonight. Thank you for allowing myself to take up your time.”

The five tigereans all took bottles of water from the table, and we all exited the room. I took my usual shortcut back to my desk through the back of the office and warehouse area, and resumed my work.

It was a couple hours later that found me with one of the older servers on a cart, and firing up the department’s air compressor to get the dust and nicotine out before reinstalling it into the test lab we were building. I hit the button to open one of the large roller doors that opened to the back parking lot of the building and as I went to move the server and compressor outside, I got the shock of my life.

The space where normally a number of cars would be parked was taken up with something resembling a larger and more modern version of _Eagle 5_ from _Spaceballs_ , The Movie. Surrounding it was what appeared to be half of the tribal police force, several state patrol cars, and a pair of blacked-out Suburbans so favored by the Feds. Opening the door with a server and an air compressor did _not_ engender me to the half-dozen or so officers that immediately came up to block me, and I was trying to explain myself and get the equipment back inside when a felt a massive paw _thump_ heavily on my shoulder.

“This human, he is OK. I vouch for him.” It was Ch’Mrr, and his accent had appeared to have grown much thicker. I turned to look at him, and he _winked_ at me. The tribal PD officers didn’t appear to be buying it, and I shrugged.

“I can do this some other time.” I went to push the server back inside, but Ch’Mrr stopped me.

“No, is no trouble. Please, continue.” I shrugged again.

“OK. You will all want to take a few steps back- This will produce a large cloud of noxious smelling dust which is probably not good to breathe. I’ll try to work as quickly as I can.”

Everyone took a couple steps back, albeit with a little help from the giant alien cat. I cranked up the compressor, and proceeded to blast all the dust kittens out of the server. I did my best to get it done as quickly as possible, what with half the damn police force staring at me and waiting for me to slip up so they could pig-pile me. While I waited for the compressor to re-charge for the finishing work, I pulled a couple wipes out and wiped down the areas that needed it. The big feline’s tail and ears were twitching madly as he called for me to take all the time I needed in that horrible accent of his.

“Please, take time, do job right. I have to watch ship anyway. Is nice ship, no?” I nodded, and checked the air tank’s gauge and finished blowing the dust out of the server.

A couple minutes later, I was finished up and pushed the cart back inside as the big cat argued some more with the collected police forces guarding the shuttlecraft.

_Early evening_

Arriving home, I finished the take out burger I had grabbed on the way and gave the place a quick once over. I picked up the small device and pressed the center button. I was not expecting the small zap of static electricity from it, though. The device seemed unaffected, and a couple seconds later I heard Ch’Mrr’s voice from a small speaker grille on the device.

“We will arrive in 30 of your minutes- we are finishing our meal”. I acknowledged, and it was exactly 30 minutes later that I heard a low rumble of something coming in from the air, followed closely by sirens of all sorts, and what sounded like a pair of Apache attack helicopters.

I opened the carport door and wandered out front in time to see the tigerean’s shuttlecraft gently touching down in the front yard, with the Apaches loitering overhead in complete disregard for the city's noise laws. Scant seconds later the local police roared up, followed closely by some military unit in a pair of Humvees all kitted out in full battle rattle. A door on the shuttlecraft opened, and Ch’Mrr came out, followed by another guard, the ambassador, and the remainder of the honor guard. The commander of the military unit and the local police immediately started arguing with Ch’Mrr, as the remainder of the group came over to where I was standing. The Ambassador spoke first.

“We made a minor mistake coming here, and accidentally passed through the controlled airspace of your airport, hence the escort from the other aircraft and the reception here.” The loud thumping of the Apaches had lessened considerably, indicating that they were returning to the airport, and as I looked, the commander of the military unit was handing a piece of paper to Ch’Mrr. The local police had disappeared by this time. The military troops all piled back into their vehicles and drove off as Ch’Mrr sealed up the shuttlecraft and came over to us.

“I do not think we will make that mistake a second time. At least no one got hurt, and that nice commander gave us information on the communication channels your airports use so this does not happen again.”

Somehow, the twitching of Ch’Mrr’s ears told me that the commander was not at all ‘nice’. I straightened out a bit more formally, and bowed. “Welcome to my home, Ambassador. It is not much, but I hope you will find it comfortable and relaxing. Please, come inside and let us talk.”

_Three hours later_

It had been a very strange three hours. I was introduced to Na’menth and Na’meel, also of the Sn’rrth clan- they were both members of the Ambassador’s honor guard, and were owner/operators of the shuttlecraft _Varletha_ , which was parked on the front yard. The fourth member of the honor guard introduced himself as Sha’mel of the Goy’an clan as I got glasses of ice water with straws in them for the group. After the introductions were completed, we got started.

First, they asked me to swear on my honor that what we were to discuss would not be spoken elsewhere. Then, they started asking me questions about lycanthropes, therianthorpes, and other shifters from various myths and legends. I did the best I could, but the questions they asked me taxed the knowledge I had. I also confirmed that the Ambassador’s ‘language problems’ were a sham- She spoke English as well as I did, and Ch’Mrr came clean when I challenged him on the cheesy Russian accent he used.

“Yes, we studied a few things before we made contact. I decided to adopt that accent because it seemed to fit my personality and physical build.”

I nodded in amusement as he put the accent on and continued. “In addition, am taken more seriously when fake accent is used, yes?” I chuckled.

“Yes, until people find out that the twitching ears and tail is your version of showing amusement and laughter, that is.” Ch’Mrr nodded and _chuffed_.

“So Cat is out of bag, to use the term?”

I nodded. “Yes, at least with me anyway. I’ll keep it a secret as long as possible.”

The ambassador spoke from within her hood. There was a tiny hint of exasperation to her voice. “Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, can we continue?”

After the two of us meekly nodded, she continued. “From the information we’ve been given by our contact here, most therianthorpes come into their abilities around the age of 35, but sometimes as early as 30 or as late as 40. In addition, I must ask: Do you believe in magic?”

I tried to keep my expression neutral as the various pieces finally dropped into place in my head as the obvious conclusion was reached. “Are you saying that thereianthorpes and magic are real?” At her nod, I continued. “So, what was that thing that hit me today? It felt like someone threw a small padded ball at my stomach, and it nearly knocked me stupid when it happened.”

She made a sort of _hurrmph_ sound at this. “That confirms it, then. Therianthorpes are immune to most types of magic in human form, even before their abilities manifest. There are, however, a few detection and divination spells that work, one of which was used to find you. You are one of the few therianthorpes that we were able to find that your government does not have under control yet. That is why we wanted to speak to you alone. If your government gets hold of you, they will force you to suppress your abilities, or kill you. We can prevent that. We will also work with you to develop your abilities and to connect with certain other parties who think as we do. However, there is one more test that must be run to be certain, which occurred when you signaled us. The spell that was cast at you this afternoon should have worn off by now. Unless the information I got from the spell that zapped you as you signaled us is wrong, you should begin your first shift sometime tonight.”

I looked at them like they’d started speaking in tongues. “I… think I need a drink.” I got up and went into the back room and pulled a beer from the fridge, and in the background the five of them started talking amongst each other in their own language. I took a long pull of the beer as I listened to what sounded like a small feline war and started thinking. I went back into the living room as the noise died down.

As I re-entered, three of the honor guard were preparing to leave. At my puzzled expression, Ch’Mrr explained that if it was permitted, he and the Ambassador would spend the night here and return to their ship in the morning. I told them that I had a guest room in which they could stay, and that I would be honored. Ch’Mrr said that the couch would be acceptable for him, and that the Ambassador would take the guest room. Ch’Mrr then stepped outside to oversee the remainder of the honor guard on their way. I showed the Ambassador the guest room, and then politely excused myself to use the bathroom in my bedroom.

I had just finished up when the there was a tap on the door, which opened to admit he Ambassador.

“Am I disturbing you?”

I shook my head. “No, not at all. I apologize profusely for the state of my room- I was not expecting visitors in here.”

“No need to apologize- I was curious about how you kept your room, that is all. In addition, I wanted to speak with you privately about a job offer of sorts.”

I went to sit on the bed, as I suddenly felt very dizzy. I managed to collapse on the bed while the Ambassador looked on in alarm.

“Is something wrong?”

I slowly nodded. “Yes- I feel very dizzy, and it came on very suddenly.”

The Ambassador said, “I may be able to provide some assistance and insight, but I need to do something first. Is there somewhere I can hang my cloak?”

I indicated the closet. As she undid the latch on her cloak and opened the door, she hung the cloak up on one of the hooks on the door after pausing to note the large gun safe taking up the bulk of the space. She then unlatched the upper half of armor she was wearing with a _clack_. The upper and lower halves she then placed on the ground next to the closet. As she turned around to face me, I finally got a good look at her face, and frankly, I can’t tell you why I found her so damned attractive. She had a light tunic under the armor which accentuated her figure slightly, and as she faced me, she said, “Allow me to re-introduce myself- I am Sh'Meral of Clan Sn'rrth. When I am not wearing the cloak, please refer to me by that name, which is my given name. However, when I am wearing the cloak, I am the eyes, ears, and nose of the Emperor of the Trade Empire, and should only be referred to as Ambassador- anything else may be considered an insult.”

I slowly and carefully nodded. “Good to know. This vertigo seems to be getting worse, though.”

Sh’Meral came over. “What I am about to is create a link between our minds. This will allow me to examine you easier and determine what is causing your problem. I was a healer long before I was chosen as an Ambassador. Can I have you roll on your side?”

I rolled away from her to face away from her, and I felt and heard the bed creak a bit as she climbed on it. She put one paw on the top of my head, and another just below my left ear. Shortly after she did that, I heard/felt an odd _click_ and my vertigo went away almost instantly. {The vertigo appears to be related to your first shift- your senses are changing first. The rest of your body should follow shortly. I’ve blocked the effects for you until it begins- This way we can talk privately.}

I pondered for a second. [ _How do I speak? Like this?_ ] I felt a breeze at the back of my head and a much louder _chuff_ then I had heard in the past; her head was practically resting above mine.

{Yes, like that. The other reason why I have taken an interest in you is that when we located you, I instructed our second contact agent here to research your background. You seem to have a very wide base of knowledge, and an ability to pick up and understand how a strange new device works quickly. You also claim to be one of the last trained generalists, and a supreme diagnostician. These are skills and abilities we look for in the people we transfer knowledge to when we uplift a world.}

I mentally nodded. [ _I’ve heard the term 'uplift' before from one of our science fiction authors._ ] I felt the tiniest of pinpricks on my scalp for a second.

{Comments and questions later, we are running short on time. In order for the uplifting process to work smoothly, we need people such as you, along with other specialists, to accelerate your technology and bring yourselves up to our level. While our agents have several contacts already established with several major research centers and a firm to provide capital and material, we still need people with a practical knowledge of engineering outside of a research lab environment.

Based on what information we’ve been able to collect, you appear to be such a person. I will be honest; the starting pay will be much less then what you are collecting from your present job; we cannot pay in monetary units you can use at first, but the information, experience, and opportunities may pay for themselves many times over. We are able to provide room and board at the least if you accept. After you have proven yourself to us, we can provide material that your world places value in; gold, silver, gems, and the like. Does this sound like something you would be interested in?}

I pondered for a moment. [ _What timeframe do you have in the selection process, and how much time do I have to respond?_ ]

Her response was immediate. {If you accept, we would bring you on board within the next two or three of your months; this would give you time to finalize your present obligations. We do need an answer within the week, however. We will give you any additional information you need in writing; as the information is of a sensitive nature, it would be in our language. The first thing I will to do is give you the ability to read, write, and speak this language, if you are interested.}

I thought it over; sure, my job was comfy, paid well enough, and provided me with a certain amount of challenge. But this was something that could really help change the world. [ _I’m certainly interested! But how do you propose to teach me your language? I'm horrible at learning languages._ ]

Sh’Meral _chuffed_ again, and there was a very humorous quality to her mental ‘voice’. {Like this:}

::discontinuity::

I blanked out for what I thought was a second or two; in reality, a couple minutes passed. When I came back, the back of my head throbbed a bit. {You should now be able to comprehend _Trrth_ , the common written and spoken language of the Tigerean Empire. The pain will stop after a minute or two- it is a side effect from the knowledge transfer. I will have a printed copy of the employment offer and the remainder of information left for you to peruse tomorrow before we leave your house. Do you have any other questions for me?}

I started to answer, but before I got a chance, a great wave of pain rippled through my body from my spine outward. Even though my eyes were closed, I saw red as pain overwhelmed my mind. The last thing I remember seeing before passing out completely was something I could not immediately make sense of- I saw all her thoughts, all her emotions, fears, and hopes, as she saw all of mine. It was as if our minds became one for a few moments.

_Some time later_

I woke up with a pounding headache that almost immediately faded out. I went to move an arm, and came to the realization that it was no longer an arm. I also found that there was something that tied both not-arms together at where my wrists would have been, along with my legs. I cracked my left eye open, and found that although the room was pretty dark, the small lights I normally left on at all times left more than enough light for me to see by.

What I saw astounded me. I could see the end of my nose standing a good six inches out, and rounded out as if it were a muzzle. There was a dark stripe coming from the sides of my nose to the right edge of my eye. There was a second, darker stripe crossing it and wrapping around my muzzle. _Not. Good._ My eyes re-focused on the headboard that I was facing, and I saw what looked like a couple grand worth of used dental work sitting on it. I heard a cough, and Sh’Meral’s voice in the darkened room speaking in _Trrth_.

“I apologize for having to bind you, but according to the information I've been given, first shifts can sometimes be quite traumatic, and sometimes leaves the person in a feral state. I removed the material from your mouth before you could choke on it or worse.”

I tried to speak, and after a couple failed attempts came out with “I’m still me. Thank you for clearing that from my mouth. Can you untie me now?”

I also came to the realization that I replied in the same language she spoke. _Must have been hard-coded in somehow during the shift._ I heard her reply back to me. “You have a dreadful accent, but I understood that. Give me a few moments.”

It was hard to describe the new sensations- While the room still smelled familiar, all the scents were much more pronounced including a musty smell I could not quite place. My hearing picked up noticeably – The intermittent buzz of the clock-radio’s light, the growling of the fan overhead, and her heartbeat and breathing directly behind me. The human part of my mind didn’t know what to make of the information that my whiskers were providing, but some other, more primal part of my mind could, and suddenly I could make sense of that information and read her position as she undid my bonds. I did notice that the tunic she had been wearing was nowhere to be seen as she reached over me to untie my front paws. I just hope she didn’t notice my sudden embarrassment as she straddled me to release the bonds on my rear paws and I found the source of the musty scent. It was short lived, however, as I got swatted in the face by her tail. By the time I got my eyes re-opened and re-adjusted, I could hear her laughter behind me as I muttered, "Well, that confirms the 'lack of a nudity taboo' portion of the web site".

As she finished removing my bonds, I started thinking about what had happened during the shift. I remembered not only growing up as a human, but vague memories of her growing up as the daughter of the ambassador to Arctous IV, a human-populated world that the clan had spent fifty years uplifting. I briefly saw the pain, suffering, and grief when the world rebelled and killed her parents and most of her clan during the ceremony that would have welcomed the world to the trade empire. Finally, I remembered her training as a healer and the combined honor and terror of being chosen as ambassador for this uplift. Bog only knows what she did with the memories she got from me. I shook my head to clear these jumbled thoughts and return to the present, which had her sitting on the bed.

We talked for an hour about what happened. She had never heard of such a thing happening with other human-like races. As we compared what we had seen of each other’s mind, we found that deep at the core of each other we were very similar. We also found ourselves attracted to each other as well. We mutually agreed that nothing would be said of what happened, and that we would spend at least four or five months ‘letting it play out’. Even though we had been forcibly given a large portion of each other’s memories, which I later would surmise to be worth several years worth of experience being around each other, we came to the conclusion that spending four or five months or two dating would work for appearance’s sake before we did anything major.

I asked her about what she knew of the shape-shift process, but she could not tell me one way or the other what would happen when I returned to human. She was able to give me warning when my next shift would occur, though.

“Your next shift should occur shortly. I will return with some water.”

As she came left the room, I felt a rather painful grinding sensation in my shoulders, hips, and neck as the bones moved around to go from quadruped to biped. While it was painful, I didn’t black out this time. I will admit that I panicked slightly when my arms went numb below the elbow and I got to watch as my paws elongated slightly to become more like hands. Once they finished re-shaping, sensation came back in a prickly flow as if coming awake from being asleep. I released my breath, panting slightly. “Whoa… that was unreal.”

Sh’Meral looked at me as she came in with two bowls. “This was less painful then the last, yes? Your third shift may be more painful, however.”

I nodded, staring at my hands and slowly flexing the claws in and out of their sheaths. “So, this is my hybrid form. Interesting.”

The phrase was in a rough, but passable, English. I cautiously moved to the edge of the bed, swung my legs out (sitting on my tail in the process!) and stood up using her proffered arm for support. The first couple steps were uncertain and I was kept upright only with her help and some help from the wall. She helped me over to the dresser where she had placed the two bowls she had brought in.

“I didn’t see any… ‘drinking tubes’, so I brought the water in bowls instead.”

My laughter came out as a _chuff_ noise as I nearly lost my balance. “This will work, but I have a box of straws in the kitchen.”

I found that I had somehow gained some hard-wiring for lapping up water, although I was terrifically noisy at it. This elicited what I could classify as the tigerean version of a chuckle from Sh’Meral, who was quietly lapping up the water in her bowl. After finishing the water, I cautiously made my way out to the kitchen, and showed Sh’Meral where I kept the glasses and straws, and where to put the dirty dishes.

We went onto the porch area with some of the folding chairs I kept in the back room and talked for another hour or so in the dark about various things. Pretty soon I felt the twinges signaling my last change, and I managed to make it back into my bedroom before it hit. I had just gotten into the bedroom and to the bed when the pain hit. It felt like someone had dipped me in kerosene and set my skin on fire. It was short lived, as I passed out before the scream escaped my lips.

========================= 

After he shifted back to his human form, I covered him up with the bedding, and put my tunic back on. Making my way out to the porch again, I had a talk with the ArchMage, who I had contacted when I got the water. I'm not sure how he knew, but he did know what had happened to us, and he gently chided me on it.

"You didn't have to remove your tunic, you know. Humans have a nudity taboo, especially ones in this nation. What will you do with the memories you got from him?"

I stood there for a moment in thought. "He has some sorrow in his past that he has not fully dealt with- it does not compare to mine, but it is there. However, his resolve and will is hull-metal strong, and once he chooses a path, or has one chosen for him, he will stay the course to the end. He is also normally passive, but if forced will choose the path he feels is right and drag the group with regardless of their protests. To use his phrasing, 'You made me drive, now shut up and let me.' He is also very protective of those he calls friends, and even more protective of those whom he has shared part of himself with. There was something else that I felt, but it was only a shadow; a hint of something. What it is or was, I am not sure- I have never been in contact with a therianthrope's mind."

The Archmage nodded. "An accurate assessment. Do you now see why I wanted him recruited, even if he didn't qualify on paper? Someone with his will can be very useful in the right situation."

The discussion moved back to how we were going to not only teach him how to control his latent abilities, but also the general plan for uplifting this world’s technology so that they could join us as equal partners in my world's trade empire. It was nearly 3 am before we finished, at which point we both needed sleep. Before he teleported out, he had a few final words for me. “Treat this one with respect and care, my friend. He has more power and ability then you may realize. I'll be back before you leave to begin his training.”

========================= 

**Day Two: May 12th**

I found myself being snuggled with what my primitive human hindbrain initially thought was a very large, very fluffy plush when my clock’s alarm went off, much louder then I recalled. Then the rest of my brain kicked in, and I hoped to every deity I could think of that nothing untoward had happened while I was out, as we were both naked and her hands were wrapped around my chest. I fortunately had the presence of mind to not say anything, as her head was tucked just above mine, and her tail was tickling the back of my left knee. I gently and carefully started to untangle limbs to try and free myself to shut the alarm off, but I ended up waking her up anyhow. As she grunted softly, I whispered to her, “Sorry. I forgot to turn it off. I hope I didn’t startle you.”

She rolled in place and stretched her arms in a very cat-like move while I watched. Afterwards, she turned to me and said, “Fortunately for you, it was a quiet alarm- if it was full volume, you would have left an impression in the wall. That is the same style alarm that we use to indicate a hull breach.”

My eyes grew wide and I realized that I should probably set it to the radio in the future, before I noticed a smirk and ear twitch as I realized that she had pulled a fast one on me.

“I expect you are wondering what happened after you shifted back to human form, yes? First, you need to call in sick to work- There will be someone here shortly that will give you additional information and begin your training to control the abilities you now possess.”

Sh’Meral turned around to allow me to slink into the bathroom and close the door. I spent about ten to fifteen minutes with a shower, examining my newly regenerated mouth full of teeth, and the usual other things that one does in a bathroom.

By the time I got out, she had left my room, allowing me to dress and call in to work. As I came out to get some food, Sh’Meral was talking with a tall figure in a long grey hooded cloak that was standing in the doorway to the carport. Ch’Mrr was standing there holding her armor and cloak. She turned to me, and said, “I would like to introduce you to your mentor. He will instruct you in learning how to control your abilities and utilizing what magical talent you may possess. Unfortunately, I have things that must be done today. I have left the paperwork you requested on the back table, and I will return in two days to collect it along with your decision. In the mean time, please take care of yourself.”

I bowed and thanked her for honoring my house with their visit. As Ch’Mrr helped her re-don her armor and cloak, she ‘pathed to me {And place your mind at rest- nothing happened after you fell asleep. I take full responsibility and blame for what you saw when you woke up.}

I merely nodded, and the cloaked figure made sure they made it out the door and to their waiting shuttlecraft. As he closed and locked the door, he took the cloak off and hung it up on my hat rack. I got a good look at my new teacher. He did not stand quite as tall as Ch’Mrr and was more slender. I noticed that he had a worn, carved staff that came up to my eye level leaning next to my plain walking staff that I used at ren faires and for other events on the hat rack. He was dressed in a modern black t-shirt that had “I void warranties” written in white across the front, and ‘docker’ style pants with a modification for the striped tiger’s tail that he wore even as he was human.

He caught me staring and chuckled. “That’s one of the ways to identify a therianthrope- while it varies from individual to individual, some portion of one's body will stay in animal form regardless of how human you try to make yourself. My tail is mine. However, the various world governments and agencies wouldn’t dream of trying to take me in.”

I offered him a seat at the main table in the back room, and dug around for the clipboard of paper and a pencil. He still had this amused look on his face and told me I would not need those. I shook my head. “Oh yes, I do. My memory is like swiss cheese- Tasty and full of holes. If I don’t write stuff down, It’ll be forgotten. If it helps, I’ll write it in _trrth_ , and make sure that there is no press through- I do have some small knowledge of keeping things secret.”

I had looked at the inch thick wedge of paperwork that Sh’Meral had left, and placed it in front of the keyboard on the computer desk. Returning to the table, I pulled the pad of paper off the clipboard, pulled a sheet off the pad, and clipped the paper in place. “So, where do we begin? I’m assuming that the Ambassador already told you my name?”

He laughed. “Yes, and a number of other things that I’m sure will turn you beet red. However, you know nothing about me, so I will introduce myself. In addition, not only am I not a ‘normal’ teacher, but the classwork will probably be nothing like you’ve dealt with before. As you’ve figured out by now, I’m a therianthrope much like yourself. My name is Tigra Goy’an, and I am the ArchMage of Terra. I am also the second contact representative to the tigereans, who had left a scouting party here some centuries ago. I am the last living descendant of that party, and the honor fell to me to welcome their return. Now, here is what I plan on teaching you regarding your abilities as a therianthrope and a magic user...”

It was about four hours later that we took a break for lunch, which I badly needed. In the course of those four hours, I shifted between the three forms that I initially went through about ten or twelve times, especially after he found that I could control the rate of my shape-shifting. I also found that certain aspects of my human appearance changed when I returned to human form- my hair tended to regrow to extend about a foot down my back, and I kept my enhanced sense of smell and hearing.

In addition, it burned calories like nothing else- I felt like I had just had a day at work of running around all day, only packed into four hours. I nearly passed out after the last shift back to human. Tigra mentioned that we ought to take a break, and then asked why I didn’t tell him that I was feeling out of sorts. I shrugged. “I... just didn’t. I figured that this burns up calories, and I figured with all the fat on me, I should have more than enough to spare.”

He looked at me much more severely, and made sure I was propped up in the chair I had managed to fall into before rummaging around in my large deep freezer. “Any objections to a couple pizzas for lunch?”

I told him no, and I heard stuff being moved around and then the grinding of the pizza stones as he set both of them down and started getting the pizzas ready. It was about ten minutes later that he said that they were ready. I managed to pull myself out of the chair and slowly walked into the kitchen. As he cut the pizza and plated it, I asked “How did you manage to cook those without damaging the stoneware? It normally takes ten minutes to preheat in the oven alone!”

He flashed a cheesy grin at me. “Easy- I dumped a bunch of energy into the stones themselves after putting the frozen pizzas on them. I then put a reflecting bubble around both stones as they rested on the trivets you have to contain any radiated heat, which thawed and cooked the pizzas much quicker than any oven or microwave could.”

I looked at him like he’d grown an extra head as he took both plates and went into the back room. I made my way back there, and took a seat as he went back into the kitchen area and returned with a pair of drinking glasses, which he filled with water from the fridge. He motioned for me to dig in, which I did gladly. As we ate, he discussed the dark side of my new abilities.

“As Sh’Meral had stated last night to you, your very own government monitors and controls lycanthropes and therianthropes through the LCA, or Lycanthrope Control Agency. It was originally intended to provide guidance to newly awakened therianthropes, but has since expanded and grown to monitor and control most demi-humans and mythos. Unfortunately, this means that newly awakened therianthropes such as yourself are normally killed outright or drugged to suppress their abilities unless other factors intervene. This is partly due to the fact that therianthropes can be very powerful magic users in their full and hybrid forms. Largely though, it is due to the centuries of mis-trust between mundanes and magic users. One of the things we are going to discuss this afternoon and tomorrow will be ways to defend yourself from them, and how to shield yourself and this place from them as well. When they find out that they can’t do anything to you, they will do many things to make your life difficult under the color of law. So, We will begin with the basics on using magic...”

As I drifted off to sleep that night, all I could think of was how my life was going to be turned completely upside down and sideways by the events of the past 48 hours. _Ah, well, a boring life is not one worth living..._


End file.
